The Best Arugula Salad!

I love salads for lunch. A big bowl of salad with greens, grains, fruits, nuts and cheese can be just as filling as a big burger or a bowl of pasta - and on plus side a lot healthier for your body and soul. The trick is to add just enough variety - both in terms of texture and flavors.

This is for my "lunch-for-one" salad. I make it on the days I am at home eating alone. Sometimes I skip the grains and keep the salad light as an accompaniment to half a sandwich. Other times I add grains (quinoa or couscous) and/or some rotisserie chicken and make it a full meal - either way it's delicious and I highly recommend you try it!

My favorite way to enjoy this salad is to grab a large bowl full with a side of hot tea, perch myself on the patio with a good book and enjoy the lunch hour!

While this salad may taste just as well with other greens like lettuce or kale, for me arugula in this salad is unswappable :) I love the tender bittery crunchy taste which complements the fruit in the salad perfectly! Another unswappable ingredient for me is the meyer lemon in the dressing.. meyer lemon has a mild lemony tasty with a hint or orange which I find heavenly in dressings - while a regular lemon or vinegar may work as well, I would try to find meyer lemon as much as I can.

Go ahead and try to vary the ingredients - make it your own! That's the best part of the big salad bowl for one :)

Recipe:
Ingredients: (not exact measurements, vary to your taste!)

Dressing:
2Tbsp olive oil (the best quality you have at hand)
2Tbsp meyer lemon juice
himalayan pink salt (or the best salad salt you have at hand)
crushed black pepper

Add all the ingredients together. Stir vigorously with a spoon or fork until emulsified. Taste, adjust as needed.

Salad:

Few handfuls of arugula

Fruit: couple chopped strawberries, chopped orange, sliced persimmon or sliced figs
Nuts: slivered almonds
Grain: 1/2 C cooked quinoa or couscous
Cheese: handful of goat cheese
Veggies: sliced onion, sliced tomato, sliced red pepper or sliced avocado

Mix all salad ingredients. Drizzle dressing on top. Mix well. Serve asap. Enjoy!